BGS Global Hospitals' super specialty quaternary care centre has reported that it has successfully performed a complex revision hip replacement surgery, benefiting the quality of life of a 52-year-old woman from Kenya. The surgery was led by Dr. Basavaraj C.M. and Dr. Santosh Hakkalamani.

The patient Margaret Wanjiru was born with a dislocated hip joint. She underwent multiple correction surgeries through the years. In 1997, she underwent a primary hip replacement surgery which was met with a few hurdles. At this point, the patient decided to go in for a revision surgery and enquired at a few medical facilities in the UK and US. Quoting the high cost of surgeries in these countries, she reached out to BGS Global Hospital, Bengaluru. She was able to carry out the procedure at a fraction of the cost while not compromising on the quality of care or the quality of implants used in the surgery.

The patient presented with severe damage to the bone in the hip socket. She was short by 2 inches in one leg, causing a prominent limp. She was experiencing extreme pain and was regularly on painkillers to manage it.

The team led by Dr. Basavaraj successfully completed the revision surgery, by reconstructing the missing bone, using prosthesis made of a tantalum element, that has the advantage of being 80% porous, ceramic hip bearing and techniques such as allograft. With a well defined surgical plan, they were able to tackle the core issue as well as the short limb. The patient is now completely pain free and she has now regained her limb length.

Commenting on the case, Dr. Basavaraj said, “Although Hip and Knee Joint Replacement surgery is very successful, there continues to be a need for Revision Joint Replacement Surgery in cases where the prosthesis has loosened, the bearing surfaces have worn, or a patient has sustained trauma with associated fracture adjacent to the hip or knee joint.”

In revision surgeries, one has to remove existing implants without causing damage to the natural bone, compensate for the defects that arise while removing the implants and actively take precautionary measures to avoid infections that may be triggered during the long duration of the surgery. BGS Global Hospital increasingly deals with complex revision surgeries, forming around 20-25% of the total surgeries in a month.

“Our hospital also specializes in rapid rehabilitation following joint replacement surgery. This is relatively new concept that is significantly improving patients’ experience with having total knee and total hip replacement surgery, “said Dr. Hakkalamani.

On October 13, 2016, on the occasion of World Arthritis Day, BGS Global Hospital is promoting discounted arthritis package that offers consultation from medical experts and X-ray at Rs. 299 between October 13, 2016 and November 12, 2016 from 10 am to 4 pm at all its hospitals and centres in Bengaluru including Kengeri, Vijaynagar & Richmond road.